Imagine you are designing an assessment. You have a set of questions that you would like to ask but you are struggling to find ways to elevate the levels of complexity and rigor associated with those questions.
One quick and easy way to boost depth of knowledge and rigor levels is to simply add a picture to the question.
For example:
English question - What is the difference between effect and affect?
Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more?
Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops?
Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group?
Now, all 4 of these questions are low level depth of knowledge questions. They are simple recall for the most part and don't have much rigor associated with them. You either know the answers, or you don't. These are hard questions if you don't know the answers, but the reality is there is no real complexity to these questions. Remember, hard and rigorous are NOT synonymous...
Take these low level questions to a higher level by adding an image:
English question - What is the difference between effect and affect? (In this image students compare both situations and evaluate the difference between the two words. This requires tapping into prior knowledge and understanding the progression of one image to another while inferring the results of what would happen next.)
Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more? (In this image students can visualize the question as well as anticipate what would happen with the two pieces about to be eaten. Then, students can anticipate how much of the pizza will remain and compare that to a full not eaten pizza.)
Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops? (In this image students can evaluate the attack and recognize that the fort was fortified, the Southern troops were at an elevated position, and the fort was difficult to approach due to water on at least one side.)
Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group? (In this image students can recognize that bison work together by walking in a line in the snow so each individual bison wouldn't have to plow through the snow. The work is being done by one bison and the entire group benefits from the work of that bison.)
One quick and easy way to boost depth of knowledge and rigor levels is to simply add a picture to the question.
For example:
English question - What is the difference between effect and affect?
Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more?
Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops?
Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group?
Now, all 4 of these questions are low level depth of knowledge questions. They are simple recall for the most part and don't have much rigor associated with them. You either know the answers, or you don't. These are hard questions if you don't know the answers, but the reality is there is no real complexity to these questions. Remember, hard and rigorous are NOT synonymous...
Take these low level questions to a higher level by adding an image:
English question - What is the difference between effect and affect? (In this image students compare both situations and evaluate the difference between the two words. This requires tapping into prior knowledge and understanding the progression of one image to another while inferring the results of what would happen next.)
Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more? (In this image students can visualize the question as well as anticipate what would happen with the two pieces about to be eaten. Then, students can anticipate how much of the pizza will remain and compare that to a full not eaten pizza.)
Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops? (In this image students can evaluate the attack and recognize that the fort was fortified, the Southern troops were at an elevated position, and the fort was difficult to approach due to water on at least one side.)
Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group? (In this image students can recognize that bison work together by walking in a line in the snow so each individual bison wouldn't have to plow through the snow. The work is being done by one bison and the entire group benefits from the work of that bison.)
